The Margarita Ride started as an informal ride to celebrate Mexican Independence Day in September, 2001. This was before there was any sort of formal cycling club in Vermillion, so it was just a chance to gather some of the more frequent riders in town—as well as a few from out of town—go for a quick ride, socialize, eat Mexican food and, of course, drink margaritas. Holly was gracious enough to host the ride and prepare the yummy food. It was so popular, we decided to do it again the following year and Holly, again, was our gracious host. By that time the number of riders had easily doubled so we decided that we needed to find a different venue and to better organize the ride.
Seizing on the popularity of the ride, as well as many of the riders’ participation in the annual MS-150, we decided to make the Margarita Ride into a formal charity ride. Early on, our proceeds went entirely to MS, but as the years progressed, we decided to focus more on local charities, such as the Welcome Table, the local backpack program, recycle 605, etc. We even helped Cycling Without Age buy their first TriShaw. Oh, and of course we got to Ride with Larry.
And while riders—and clubs—have come and gone, the Margarita Ride remains: always on the second Saturday of September.